Standing Committee on Medical and Public Health Research During Large-Scale Emergency Events

Activity Description

The Standing Committee on Medical and Public Health Research During Large-Scale Emergency Events will coordinate with units across the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to provide a venue for discussion of issues related to short- and long-term strategic planning and how best to perform medical and public health disaster science research activities during a significant event or disaster. The committee will provide a venue for a dialog between the federal, state, and local governments, the private sector, academic community, other research funders, as well as other relevant stakeholders involved in emergency preparedness and emergency response services. It will include experts in state and local public health, epidemiology, environmental health, first responders, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, nursing, emergency management, bioethics, medical countermeasures, state and local government, operations research, mental health, emergency medical services, biosurveillance, and risk communication. Further, as needed, the standing committee will be involved in the planning, development, and oversight of related fast-track ad hoc activities undertaken by separately appointed committees operating under its auspices that will be able to help prioritize scientific research needs during a public health event or in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The ad hoc activities would be triggered by a large-scale disaster event, at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and be initiated in the locality affected.